Anyone who lives on top of the world, as Elsie Gowdy does, probably has the adventuresome spirit to go to the end of the world, as Elsie has - six times.

On her ridge of land nearly a vertical mile above Bayview and Lake Pend Oreille, Elsie doesn’t hear much more than insects humming and the wind playing pine cone hockey.

The peace at the South Pole was just as complete, if a bit eerier.

“I always thought adventure was a good thing,” says Elsie, whose eyes are as clear blue as the sky over Antarctica. “It keeps people living.”

Her children were grown. She was ready for change. Elsie wanted to cook and make money when a friend told her about the South Pole.

The National Science Foundation hires support people - cooks, mechanics, plumbers - to work with its scientists on Antarctica. Elsie snagged an assistant cook job in 1987, the same year she applied.

Her husband Bob, an engineer, stayed home. Elsie was 52 and in top shape. She had to be to go to the South Pole. There was no way out for 16 weeks.

That October, Elsie flew to New Zealand, where she hopped a cargo plane for the South Pole. She packed no outdoor clothing; the National Science Foundation supplied red parkas with furry hoods, mittens, boots.

“It was at least 40 below (zero) when we first got there,” she says, wincing. It was nearly summer and all she could see was white, including the massive dome that covered all the buildings.

Adventuring in the South Pole meant sudden barometric changes, air so dry that cracked skin was the norm, and melted ice for showers and laundry. Elsie watched ice crystal rainbows dance across the sky, suffered an unquenchable thirst, and shook hands with world explorers.

“I worked constantly and I just loved it,” she says.

She went back three times. Bob joined her twice as a maintenance worker. The past two years, the Gowdys went to Palmer Station on the Antarctic coast for six- and seven-month stints.

They watched icebergs float past, penguins grow and play, and seals sleep on the ice flows. They returned to Bayview in March and agreed it was time to retire.

But Elsie isn’t quite ready to give up on adventure.

“Travel opens the mind. I’ll go somewhere else,” she says, smoothing the creases from her South Pole Station T-shirt. “I’ve just seen the South Pacific. The whole world is left.”

How does your garden grow?

If green things aren’t poking through the dirt in your garden yet, you may need horticulturist Phyllis Stephens. She’s the master gardener the newspapers, radio and television stations depend on.

For $5, you can see her and walk away with a wheelbarrow full of gardening advice. Phyllis accepted an invitation from the Coeur d’Alene Cultural Center and the Master Gardeners to speak at North Idaho College’s Todd Hall Wednesday .

Buy tickets at Duncan’s Nursery in Coeur d’Alene, The Plant Mill in Post Falls or the Kootenai County Extension Office in Dalton Gardens, but not at the door.

Happy grads

No one was happier to see the graduation parties for Post Falls, Lake City and Coeur d’Alene high schools get cranking than the parents. About 100 baby boomers from the three schools worked together for months collecting prizes and money for decorations.

They decorated the Kootenai County Fairgrounds for parties three consecutive nights and kept a discreet watch over kids until the balloons came down at dawn. There’s a lot to be said for cooperation …

Shoot ‘em up

Where are North Idaho’s best July 4th fireworks displays? Send details to Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814; fax to 765-7149; or call 765-7128.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo